1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the preparation of a high-protein snack food which is crisp, highly palatable, with good mouth-feel and texture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, snack foods consist of a high proportion of starch and fat and one low in protein. An increasing number of the population, especially the youngsters, substitute snack foods for their regular meals. Therefore, it is a nutritional necessity to introduce a high-protein palatable food snack into the North American market.
Pottie Canadian Pat. No. 823,610, issued Sept. 23, 1969, and which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes a method of preparing a fish chip by comminution gelling of fish flesh to form a plastic gel which is subsequently extruded into desired shapes and fried in oil. The fish chip so produced proved to be harsh in the mouth and left a sandy feeling in the throat upon consumption. Thus, the obvious nutritional advantages of producing a high-protein fish chip were defeated by the poor mouth feel and limited palatability of the product.